


Starship Captain, Part III: Young Officer (2327-2333)

by mrpicard



Series: Starship Captain [3]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-31
Updated: 2014-06-30
Packaged: 2018-01-27 18:07:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1718621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrpicard/pseuds/mrpicard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean-Luc Picard as a young officer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_2327_   
_Starbase Earhart_   
  
  


Jean-Luc looked into the mirror and once more admired the very dashing uniform he was wearing. The red jacket, the black pants, the boots... it was perfect. And, of course, the white command division stripe on the shoulder only made things even better.   
  
He smiled.  
  
 _Ensign_ Picard.  
  
Yes, _that_ really had a nice ring to it.  
  
He looked once again at himself - and then raised an eyebrow. The uniform _did_ fit well, yes, but _something_ wasn't quite right.  
  
He tugged his uniform jacket into place.  
  
There.   
  
_Much_ better.


	2. Chapter 2

_2327_   
_Starbase Earhart_

 

"Ensign Picard? Can you hear me?"  
  
Jean-Luc slowly opened his eyes. "Yes, I can..." For a brief moment his own voice scared him – it sounded weak, helpless and defeated. He looked up and found himself face to face with a nurse.  
  
"Do you remember what happened?" she asked softly.  
  
"I was... I was in the bar. I had… had… a fight with... Nausicaans, I think."  
  
"Yes, that's right," the nurse said, pleased. "And then?"  
  
"One of them had… a knife or something. Stabbed me." Jean-Luc coughed. "Am I alright?"  
  
The nurse simply looked at him as if she was trying to find the right words to tell him that something was horribly wrong.  
  
 _Jean-Luc_ frowned. "What is it?"  
  
"That's for the doctor to tell you," she said and took a step back from the bed.  
  
"No, wait! Tell me, please. What is it?"  
  
She looked around as if to make sure that no one would hear her. "They couldn't save your heart. They had to replace it with an artificial one."  
  
" _What_?!"  
  
"I can't tell you anything else, I shouldn't even have told you this. At least _pretend_ to be surprised when the doctor shows up, okay?" She turned and left the room as quickly as possible, obviously relieved that her patient was too shocked to ask any more questions.  
  
Jean-Luc stared at the ceiling for a few moments, then took a deep breath, lifted the blanket and looked at his bare chest. Sure enough, there wasn't even a scar - the procedure _was_ fairly routine.

Still, though - he had lost his _heart_!

He suddenly felt the desperate need to talk to someone. But... to whom? Marta and Corey were probably already on their respective starships, and – come to think of it, what about _his_ assignment? He was sure that his new captain would _not_ be pleased when he learned that Ensign Picard had gotten into a bar fight.  
  
 _'Starfleet will bring you to a bad end.'_  
  
Jean-Luc bit his lower lip when his father's voice echoed through his mind - and then he realized that this was actually not true. It had not been Starfleet that had almost brought him to a bad end.  
  
It had been _him_.  
  
His arrogance.  
  
His temper.  
  
His attitude.  
  
Jean-Luc looked once again at the ceiling of the starbase's medical facility and made three promises to himself, one for each Nausicaan.  
  
To stop fooling around once and for all.  
  
To concentrate on his career.  
  
And to become a better diplomat.


	3. Chapter 3

_2327  
U.S.S. Nightingale_

 

 

The transporter room into which he had just been beamed was rather small, but then, Jean-Luc had expected it to be - the Nightingale herself wasn't exactly big either, after all.  
  
He looked at the tall (and quite handsome) officer who had come to greet him. "Ensign Picard reporting for duty, sir."  
  
"At ease, Ensign. I'm Commander Glenn Archer, first officer. Welcome aboard."  
  
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."  
  
Archer smiled. "No need to be so formal, this is a small ship, not one of those fancy huge ones.  - Come on, I'll show you to your quarters."  
  
Jean-Luc followed him out of the transporter room and into the corridor.  
  
"We've heard a lot about you," Archer suddenly said.  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"You were the first freshman cadet to win the Starfleet Academy marathon on Danula II. That alone has made you quite famous. Also, the captain's very eager to hear all about your unfortunate encounter with these Nausicaans. He wants to see you later."  
  
Jean-Luc suddenly felt very uneasy. "Oh."  
  
"Don't worry, he's just curious. It's not every day that we get a new ensign – and certainly not one with your reputation."  
  
"I... I'm not sure if this is a compliment or not..."  
  
Archer chuckled. "If it's any comfort - neither are we."


	4. Chapter 4

_2328_  
 _Somewhere... out there._  
  
  
  
"Ah, Ensign Picard. Sit down, please."  
  
"Yes, sir." Jean-Luc was nervous – he had no idea why he had been called to the captain's ready room. As far as he knew he had done nothing wrong, on the contrary: Only this morning he had received a commendation from Commander Archer.  
  
So, what was wrong?  
  
The captain, sensing his discomfort, smiled at him. "Relax, Ensign. It's nothing bad." He put his PADD down. "I've called you here because I don't think you belong on this ship."  
  
Jean-Luc stared at the man in utter horror.  
  
"Oh, I probably worded this one the wrong way, didn't I? Sorry. What I meant to say was that you don't belong on a ship _like this one_. We simply carry things from one starbase to another - it all has to be done, and I love doing it, but it's not for you. You don't want to _hear_ about new life - you want to _meet_ it. You're an explorer, Ensign, and I think this needs to be taken into account, so, I took the liberty of contacting Starfleet Command this morning. I sent them a report and a recommendation, and their answer has just come in."  
  
"S-s-sir…?"  
  
"As of right now you are assigned to the USS Stargazer. As you probably know, she's a deep space exploration vessel. We'll rendezvous with her the day after tomorrow." The captain raised his hand. "And, since I have been really impressed with you and your performance aboard this ship in the past twelve months I hereby promote you to the rank of Lieutenant junior grade with all the rights and privileges of that rank. Congratulations, Lieutenant Picard."  
  
Jean-Luc gaped at his captain, his mouth hanging wide open.  
  
For the first time in his life, he was absolutely speechless.


	5. Chapter 5

_2329_  
 _Somewhere... out there_  
  
  
  
Jean-Luc walked towards the small window in his cabin and looked at the ship that had just dropped out of warp right next to his.  
  
The Stargazer was magnificent - the four warp nacelles, the saucer section... everything was perfect. He had never seen a Constellation-class vessel this close, much less _been_ on one; and yet he found himself having a more than just strange feeling: He felt like as if he _belonged_ over there.  
  
He knew it was ridiculous, and yet he was already quite certain that the Stargazer would never be 'just another ship' for him.  
  
" _Lieutenant Picard, please report to the transporter room._ "  
  
"Acknowledged."  
  
He walked away from the window and picked up his bag.  
  
Time to leave.


	6. Chapter 6

_2330_   
_Vulcan_   
  


Jean-Luc tugged at the collar of his dress uniform - the climate on Vulcan was not exactly mild and the heat was starting to get to him.  
  
 _'I should never have asked for permission to accompany the away team to this wedding.'_

He was just about to tug at his collar again when he noticed that someone was walking directly towards him.  
  
It was Ambassador Sarek.  
  
 _'Oh my God. The man is a legend! What do I do? What if he talks to me? Breathe, Jean-Luc, breathe...'_  
  
"Greetings Lieutenant," Sarek said and made a Vulcan salute.  
  
Jean-Luc froze for a few seconds, completely baffled – and then finally managed to raise his own hand in order to return the gesture while grinning broadly.  
  
Sarek raised an eyebrow, nodded and then walked on.  



	7. Chapter 7

_2333_  
 _USS Stargazer_  
  
  
  
Jean-Luc stared at the black screen of the computer console on his desk.  
  
" _For taking command during a crisis situation and thus saving the ship and its crew I hereby promote you to the rank of captain with all the rights and privileges of that rank,_ " J.P. Hanson had said to him over subspace a few minutes ago. " _Congratulations, Jean-Luc._ "

He remembered how he had almost dropped his cup of tea – and how he had then asked J.P. to stop joking around, after all, he was only 28 years old, it would be sheer insanity to give him his own command.  
  
But no, J.P. had insisted that he hadn't been kidding and so here Jean-Luc was, in the captain's ready room, sitting in the very same chair in which the former captain of the Stargazer had sat only a few hours ago before all hell had broken loose.

The alien attack had been vicious and unprovoked, it had barely left them time to raise the shields before a whole bunch of torpedoes had come in. The enemy had specifically targeted the Stargazer's bridge, and a piece of sharp metal from one of the exploding consoles had hit the captain's throat, killing him instantly.

No one had moved - until Lieutenant Commander Jean-Luc Picard had simply stood up and taken charge.

No one had questioned it, especially not when, after a few minutes, the enemy vessel had been forced to retreat.

Jean-Luc had sent a report and a visual log of the whole incident to Starfleet and hadn't thought much of it, he had been rather busy with coordinating the repair efforts and mourning the loss of the captain - until he had gotten a strange message that told him to ' _stand by for further instructions from Admiral Hanson_ '.  
  
Again, it was sheer insanity.

But then, maybe J.P. and Starfleet Command saw something in him that he himself couldn't see yet?

Was this possible?

He sighed deeply and then leaned forward and touched the small communications device on his desk. "Picard to senior staff. Please report to the ready room."

 

 


End file.
